All I can see coming out of the young progressives/radicals on ILX these days is that they don't deal well with disappointment. I was as prepared as any of them to both act, donate, and vote in favor of Warren, if she survived the primaries or Sanders, if he survived. They didn't. I'm disappointed, too.

Biden has a good dozen or more black marks on his record. Major ones. I don't overlook them. I see them very clearly. The recent accusation by Reade is gaining and Biden's denials are losing credibility as further facts are gathered and aired. That is a wretched fact to face up to, but none of this is going to change the basic calculation of who, of the two choices who will occupy the office will do the least harm. Not harm to me. I'm granted enough privilege that is not a major concern, short of a catastrophe even beyond Covid-19. Harm to the least privileged. Harm to the earth. Harm to the nation's future. Between Biden and Trump, that is an easy choice.

I didn't fucking vote for Biden, give money to Biden, ask for Biden, and I don't exactly look forward to a Biden presidency. But I do feel an obligation to act in a way that will do the least harm.

And as I recall from November 2016, a lot of ilxors were seriously sick to their stomachs, even desperate at the prospect of four years of Trump. DJP started a serious thread about "Are you going to buy a gun?" We may not be able to swallow Biden with anything other than nausea and trepidation, but for god's sake, remember 2016 and 2017 and 2018 and 2019 and 2020, and figure out which illness is likely to be worse.

Dismissing Biden in precisely the same terms and with the same vehemence as you dismiss Trump is unsettlingly like equating them as equally politically bad. If you think that, you have not been paying attention to McConnell and all of Trump's allies, as compared to Sanders and the allies Biden will need to rely on. FFS, this isn't about inviting Biden to supper or a beer. It's politics.